The walls shake just as violently as the boy's bellicose body. With each feral swipe at nothing, there's an even more barbaric yell. Each cry is desperate, mercilessly clawing at his throat to climb out and escape. The pastry he had taken from Anteiku in a futile attempt to pacify his intense hunger rises to the surface of his wide spread mouth too. He staggers, nauseous. He knew this would happen, and yet, he's still surprised by the violent backlash. Akatani clutches his stomach, the pit already emptied and his craving returned.

His hands tremble as they climb up from his gut to his ribcage, clinging onto his upper sides. His fingers run along the thin slots that are between bones, those slits feeling more defined than ever. His brain feels like it's swelling beyond the capacity of his skull, to the point that his starvation is too obvious to ignore any longer. He's winded, ragged breaths coming faster than the cold sweat beading down his paling skin.

Again, Akatani cries out in agony. His stomach lurches and gurgles. He raises his heavy eyelids half way only for them to fall shut. The aching in his sides surges upward to meet the pain in his skull. There's something about hunger that robs the spirit as well as the body, until the ability to fight is completely stolen from him. The boy bends forward, puking out a mixture of the aforementioned half digested pastry and bile. Saliva streams out as well, dripping from his quivering lips. His thinning body tremors too, shrinking in on itself.

He locked himself in after the incident with Stain. Unable to resist his extreme urge to not only eat, but to hunt and kill, he had considered himself lucky to be stopped by the hero killer's quirk. That is until after the hunted hero fled the scene, slipping away during Akatani's brief conversation with Stain, prompting Stain to leave Akatani behind too. All alone in the alley and unable to move, all Akatani could think about was how starved he is. His hunger increased with every passing second that he returned to his home in order to be reclusive, where he wouldn't accidentally harm anyone that didn't deserve it.

The hot dog vendor on Sakura Drive would have been an innocent victim. Devouring the group of teens spending their night ding dong ditching the neighborhood would have made him a villain, not a vigilante. The ghoul claws at himself, wanting to be let out. Akatani's ribs are truly a cage, and the bones are the less than sturdy bars. He twitches and wraps his arms around himself even tighter. Pastries won't satisfy him. Not even if Aizawa were here to erase his quirk. He's waited too long. It's past the point of no return.

As though the mere thought of the underground hero is enough to summon him, Akatani's cellphone rings. The caller ID shows that it's Aizawa who is trying to reach him. The boy is unable to answer, the drool pooling out of his mouth making it impossible to form a sentence. So he lets it ring. And ring. The insistent sound agitates him. It's like a bell calling him for dinner, but there's no meal on the table. Eventually, it ends. And the call goes to voicemail.

Aizawa's voice filters through the phone as he leaves a message, "Mikumo. You haven't been returning my calls. It's been a while since you last ate and I've recovered well enough that you should. Aside from that–"

A familiar younger voice interrupts, raising in volume with an added rustling, indicating that it's getting closer. "Akata-nii! Akata-nii!", Eri chirps like a bird singing a song.

"Eri really wants to see you.", Aizawa continues as though the little girl hadn't just grabbed the phone from him. Akatani can hear the smile on the man's face though. There's a pause after that before Aizawa adds, "I would like to see you again too.. To make sure you're doing well."

Akatani lets out a deep guttural growl as loud as his stomach's growling. The thought of Aizawa in front of him, a thin human, but a sack of meat nonetheless; the thought of flesh is enticing. "Call me back soon.", the underground hero ends the message he's leaving. Akatani fixates on the man's voice. He imagines Aizawa's throat. He imagines sinking his teeth into it.

Eri would be with the underground hero too. She would run straight into Akatani's arms for a hug. It would be so easy to crush her. Like a boa constrictor or a python, he wouldn't even need to use his Kagune. She's small, but she'd make for a delicious appetizer. The ghoul salivates as he fantasizes digging into her muscle tissue. Then, he stops. Akatani freezes in place when he realizes what he just pictured.

The horror dawns on him. He had just imagined feasting on Eri. He had wanted to not only harm her, but to eat her. He screams more violently than he ever has in his entire life. He hadn't roared at the top of his lungs like this ever since the night he devoured his own mother. Tears stream down his face as he pivots in hysterics. The room spins like his head as he stumbles around.

Disgusted with himself, he throws his own body against the nearest wall. The impact leaves an indentation, destroying the sheet rock. He doesn't care. Akatani's Kagune sprouts from his back, tentacles whipping without rhyme or reason. The appendages are as frantic as he is. Fallen into a self focused frenzy, he crashes into his table and shatters it. The tails swing so strongly that his body twists with them and he's sent spiraling into the kitchen. Akatani slams into a counter, shattering the ceramic.

He wants to destroy himself, but all that he's capable of damaging is his home. Everything easily breaks under the sheer force of his Kagune, but his body doesn't even bruise when he rams it into a piece of furniture. So he keeps screaming. At the top of his lungs, he yells out all of his pent up frustration. The thought doesn't cross his mind that his neighbors may call the police or a hero may come out of concern of the cry for help. He's too engrossed in his own self loathing to do much thinking anymore.

His mind races, overwhelmed by a series of screeching. He can't release the same type of terrible noise, but he comes close. The hunger is one thing, but the desire to harm the ones he loves is too much for him to bear. He'd already killed his past life as Izuku Midoriya. He doesn't want to lose another. Akatani sinks slowly, falling to his knees. His shoulders shake and his body crumbles as it's wracked with extreme surges of sobs.

Then, something soft grabs onto those same shoulders. The feeling is light. It doesn't add to the heavy weight leaning on them. Whatever it is, it's calming. A tender touch. Akatani looks up, trying to see through the tears obscuring his vision. What he sees is a blur. But he recognizes the shape. The blonde buns. The feminine form.

Akatani's blackened eyes widen, the corners cracking so much that the exposed red veins start to seep blood. At the epicenter of the dark void, each red iris shrinks as they focus on the subject in front of them. Himiko Toga. Her pale flesh ripe for the taking. All he has to do is reach out and take it. His fangs are sharper than hers. He can kill. He can eat. He can kill. He can fight it. He can resist the urge. Barely.

Akatani's eyelids slam shut, closing as tight as possible. He seals off the sight of a perfect meal's beauty. It's a desperate attempt to make the blonde not appear as appetizing. But he can still smell her. Her scent is enticing. His nostrils flare as he inhales. Akatani shakes his head as hard as he can, hoping it flies off. It's just as difficult to formulate a coherent sentence as it is to hold back his instinct, but he has to warn her.

"Shouldn't.. Be here..", he grinds his gritted teeth as drool pools out from the corners of his mouth. He barely hears Himiko trying to respond. She's probably been saying stuff to him all this time, but his other senses had overwhelmed him to the point of tuning her out until now. He tries to focus on the sound of her voice. Not the organs that make it possible for her to speak, not her slender throat. Just her words. He hears her words.

"It's okay–", he stops listening. It's not okay. She doesn't know. He can't expect her to understand. He shouldn't blame her. But she doesn't comprehend the danger she's in.

Akatani pushes her away. Or, that's what he wants to do. He just wants to distance himself from her so that she's safe from harm. He means to do so gently. Instead, he shoves her. He lashes out with a shout and tosses her across the room. Hearing her cry out in surprise, opening his eyes to see what he's done. His hands tremble in front of him. The same hands that threw her. He tucks them into his armpits, bending over so that he can't see her pained expression.

He's afraid. Afraid that he'll hurt her. He already has. Akatani whines as he tries not to hurt her again. He turns his head away, trying to focus on something else. If he doesn't see her, he might not want to hunt her. That's what he hopes for anyways. His eyes land on the door. It's hinges are broken and it's wide open. Himiko must have kicked it in. She must have come by to check on him, heard his screaming, and broke in to make sure he's safe. Akatani lowers his head, staring at the ground. He'd made the mistake of thinking about the blonde again.

"Akatani.", Himiko tries getting his attention. The boy covers his ears, attempting to block her out. "Akatani!", Himiko tries again, shouting this time. She grabs his wrists and pries his hands away from his ears so that he can hear her. "Akatani, look at me!", she pleads.

Akatani doesn't want to. He knows what'll happen if he does. He won't be able to contain himself. He'll attack her. Just knows he will. But.. that part of him wants to. It wants to attack. It wants to rip and tear past her skin. It wants to chow down on her intestines. The ghoul wants to look at its next meal. Akatani raises his head, no longer in control of his own body.

He's shocked by what he sees. She's presenting herself to him. She's actually offering her neck to him. The left side of her cardigan is slightly pulled down, exposing her shoulder where a black bra strap is. She's blushing, but not like she usually does. This time, she's bashful. She's shy. It makes Akatani blush too. For more reasons than one, he's drawn to her.

"Bite me.", her voice is as tiny as her size but it's also genuinely inviting. Akatani gawps at her, not believing what he's hearing or seeing. When her yellow eyes meet his dark voids, however, he feels a familiar sense of kinship that has him believing.

He leans forward, part of him still hesitant and trying to resist out of fear that he'll go too far. But another part of him is unable to help himself. He wants to tackle her and go straight for the jugular. But he can't bring himself to do that to her. He has to hold himself back. He has to–

Himiko is tired of waiting. She lurches at him first, striking suddenly. Her fangs sink into the spot between his own neck and shoulder, breaking skin and biting flesh. Akatani gasps in shock, and partly pleasure. It doesn't hurt as much as he would have expected, but it does catch him by surprise. It also does something to him instinctively. He's not just driven by an animalistic urge to feast or fight, but to bite back and assert his dominance.

Akatani bites Himiko. Hard. She lets out a muffled moan, not releasing her own bite's grip. They both relish in the intimacy of the moment, sucking on eachother's blood. The flavors that flow into their mouths. Akatani's RC cells and Himiko's sweet nectar. The ghoul had never tasted such blood before. It's like honey. Himiko is in a similar state of bliss. Akatani's blood is much better than any of the other people's blood that she drank.

The two wrap their arms around one another, pulling their bodies closer. Neither wants to let the other loose, locking their jaws tight. Himiko's nails scrape Akatani like claws dragging across his skin. He too runs his fingers along the small of her back, like talons digging into flesh. Their moans increase in volume as they each share eachother's blood. Bodies intertwined, Akatani's Kagune wraps around them both like a protective shell. Instead of tightening its hold, however, gently embraces the two.

For once, Akatani doesn't feel so bad allowing lust to overcome him.